PHIL CONGELLIERE | guest writer
photo | PHIL CONGELLIERE
Three-month resident Tom Boyle and freshman nursing major Olivia Rodriquez dance to Frank Sinatra's "Come Fly With Me."


On Monday, Nov. 26, the Office of Ministry and Service hosted the ‘Senior Prom’ at the San Dimas Retirement Center. The event, which was attended by approximately 40 students and retirement center residents, allowed students a chance to gain ministry hours, and also gave them a night to spend with the people they had built relationships with over the past three months.

The tables were covered with straw nests and handkerchiefs, and icicle Christmas lights with white snowflakes hung from the ceiling to create a Christmas atmosphere.

The event was supervised by Adult Ministries MAS team leader junior Spanish major Alex Block.

“The purpose of this event is to reach out to citizens of the community. Even senior citizens have become a neglected part of our society,” Block said.

At 6 p.m., SDRC residents were invited into the common room to enjoy a night of socializing and friendship.

Dressed in blue jeans and a flannel shirt, with a handkerchief tied loosely around his neck, junior cinema and broadcast arts major Mickey Schott awaited the residents with a smile.

“Howdy! We’re having a hoe down!” Schott said.

The audible voice of Frank Sinatra’s “Come Fly With Me” echoed from the CD player in the corner of the room, with the intent of taking residents back to yesteryear.

“You make us feel so young and happy” Bette Killion said.

A former professional dancer and third year resident, Killion remembered her earlier days when she spent years teaching dance and entertaining the troops in Birmingham and Miami during WWII with Bob Hope.

Even junk food favorites such as licorice, pretzels, chips, apple wedges and cookies were small reminders of their childhood. Root Beer was conveniently renamed “sarsaparilla” by Schott in lieu of the evening’s theme. Just in case the food became messy, the plastic covered tables kept the spills from the thrills of the dance floor.

Ohio native Bette Klump found some open room on that dance floor as senior communication studies major Jen Hostenpiller pushed Klump’s chair on wheels around for the entire song.

“I think it’s nice because we entertain all aged people. They are all welcome here,” rookie resident Klump said. “I love it when younger people come have fun with us older people.”

Students from MAS have been partnering with this center for over ten years now.

“It’s one of the longer running MAS ministries here,” APU alum and Community Partnerships Coordinator Heather Haskell said.

The ties between the residents here and the volunteers were close.

“If you say ‘APU’ to any of the residents here, they come running down,” thirty-six year veteran Activity Coordinator Randy Putnam said.

Schott again found his way to the center of the room.

“All the stories we get to hear, these people have experienced so much, they are full of wisdom,” Schott said.

Bringing the evening to a close, final thoughts were added in response to the importance of the relationships between the elders in retirement community and those in the community of APU.

“Many of these are veterans of Korea, Vietnam and WWII wars,” sophomore history major Wes Willison said. “Many of them don’t have families, so we come here. It’s important for the younger folks to learn from the older folks,” Willison said.